Ex President Donald Trump has reiterated that he does not want to return to Twitter, even if it is possible with Elon Musk as new owner. Instead, he will stick with his own service, Truth Social, Trump told Fox News Digital on Friday. “I like it more here,” Trump said. “I like Elon, but I’m sticking with Truth.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk completed the $44 billion takeover of Twitter on Thursday. He had criticized Trump’s permanent ban in May as “morally wrong and just plain stupid”. He also announced that he would generally abolish “lifetime” bans on users.
On Friday, however, Musk himself dampened the prospects of Trump’s possible quick return to the service. There should be no decisions to restore banned accounts until a new panel to deal with controversial content is formed.
Trump had more than 80 million followers
On January 6, 2021, while still President, Trump praised his supporters who violently stormed the Capitol in Washington. As a result, he was blocked from Twitter and Facebook.
“I like Elon and wish him the best of luck,” Trump told Fox News Digital. At the same time he restricted: “I don’t think Twitter can be successful without me.” In fact, things hadn’t gone any worse for Twitter after his ban.
Trump has also said before that he would not return to Twitter, even if he could. On the other hand, it was more of a theoretical possibility back then, whereas now Musk already owns Twitter. Trump had more than 80 million followers on Twitter. His Twitter copy Truth Social is only a few million. If Trump decides to run for president in 2024, he could use a bigger platform.
The US company General Motors announced that it would temporarily stop its paid advertising on Twitter. “As is the normal course of business with a significant media platform change, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising,” the Detroit-based automaker said on Friday (local time). However, he added that “interactions with customers continue on Twitter.”
Ad sales accounted for more than 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue in the second quarter. On the eve of the sale, Musk tweeted directly to advertisers: “Twitter can’t become a lawless hellhole where you can say anything without fear of repercussions!…Twitter’s goal is to become the world’s most respected advertising platform, the Strengthen your brand and grow your business.” Elon Musk, who is also a rival to GM as Tesla CEO, or a Twitter representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
